Fiber optics telecomm systems employing optic cables and electronic equipment are largely used in the telecommunication industry, for the transmission of large volumes of data and voice signals over long distances and practically without noise generation. Splice points and user activation terminal points are required for such systems.
In a splice point, for instance, all the fibers in an end of a given cable are spliced to the fibers corresponding to a new cable extension, in order to continue with the optic cable, necessary to reach one new splice point or a user activation terminal point.
However, in a user activation point, the optic cable fibers, which reach the aerial terminal box, may be fully or partially connected to the drop cables, which are destined to the transport of the optic signal for the end users of the network. The optic cable fibers, which are not connected to a respective drop cables, may pass through the box, unaltered or spliced to a new cable extension, in order to proceed toward a new splice point or user activation point.
In both points, the splice point or the user activation point, the optic fibers are exposed by removing a given length of protection sleeve of the optic cables, in order for them to be properly spliced to the respective multiple cable or drop cables extensions and protected inside of a splicebox or user activation terminal.
The splicebox may be built to serve a given splice point, and it may end up with larger sizes in order to accommodate a larger amount of optic fibers, in the case of splice points with a high number of optic fibers, or be specially designed to operate, in full or partially, such as user activation terminal boxes.
An user activation terminal box, usually simply called a terminal box, usually presents several features which constitute functions to facilitate the activation work of each final user of the optic network covered by the box, since such work is performed in a given number of times which varies in accordance with the clients' requirement, up to a total of 8 or 16, also depending on the configuration of the optic accessories used. Since each activation may require considerable time and enable the occurrence of damage to other connections previously performed in the optic terminal box, it is desirable that the product has an architecture which facilitates the work to be performed and which ensures the safety of the work already done. Many generic and flexible spliceboxes, which it may be used both in splice points and in user activation points, do not allow the effective streamlining and the desirable safety of splice works for extension cables and for drop cables for user activation.
The known boxes present a more worked cable entry structure, in order to ensure a higher level of protection and an simplified fiber organization architecture in a single environment, for a large counting of optic fibers, which affects the safety of the splices already effective at the time of the performance of the connections to the drop cables required due to the demand to be met by a given box with functions at least partially as a terminal box. With the popularization of optic fiber services going to the user house (types of network called FTTx) and the potential for clients signing up for such services, several companies have prepared for a new reality of this market niche, and studies on how to meet the needs of a very large number of clients have shown the need for a drastic reduction of the time spent in each user activation, since the operational difficulties found are too great and to which problematic factors are added, such as lack of labor force trained for the work and shortage of proper equipment for more complex installations. The labor force-related difficulty also dooms cases in which reworks are necessary or routine, hence the fact that it is crucial to maintain the safety of the connections already performed.
Due to the aforementioned factors, it becomes desirable, and even required, to have technical solutions for user activations-clients, which enable a quick, user-friendly and safe installation, capable of reducing the probability of rework and maintenance in a connection previously performed in a box from which drop cables for user activation shall be later derived.
Said factors make impossible the use of more generic models, since they present an internal architecture that is very simple and prone to creating problems in connections performed previously, when the interior of the box is accessed several times, for instance, for a drop cable connection. Generic boxes present, as another limiting factor for their application in user activation points, a level of protection against weather, which is also generic, which many times is redundant in aerial networks and ends up getting in the way o the activation, since it makes it harder to open the box and to use the cable entries in order to favor a more reliable sealing.
For most applications, the size of the terminal boxes must be as small as possible, due to the space available in the telecom networks present in large urban centers and which are normally congested with other optic network and of metallic network products, some active products and other already inactive products which are still allocated in such a way as to take space on the post or in the cordage. The reduced size is also important for special cases in which the space on the post is granted only to products of considerably compact sizes.
From the engineering point of view, a smaller product also presents a smaller cost, which makes it more attractive for the market, which is considerably focused on price due to the high investment which optic network projects still require.